Apparatus and method for recording/reproducing moving picture and recording medium

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method of recording/reproducing a moving picture, and a recording medium are provided. Audio data in moving picture data is comprised of first audio or first audio and second audio, and the basic unit information includes state information on the first audio and state information on the second audio. The state information on the first audio represents an original audio state in which the first audio is original audio, or a secondary audio state in which the first audio is secondary audio recorded over part or all of the original audio. The state information on the second audio represents a state in which the second audio is original audio, a state in which the second audio is secondary audio recorded over part or all of the original audio, a state in which the second audio is dummy audio which is exactly the same as the first audio, or a state in which the second audio is secondary audio recorded over part or all of the dummy audio. Accordingly, audio state information related to a moving image, obtained through recording/overwriting/edition, is stored in a recording unit information VOBI for a corresponding recording unit VOB, and reported to a user before the moving image is reproduced, so that the user can recognize the audio state. Also, during reproduction, the user can appropriately cope with audio change.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No.09/598,701, filed Jun. 21, 2000, now pending, which is a divisional ofapplication Ser. No. 09/507,749, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,046,and claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 1999-37307, filed Sep.3, 1999, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to the field of moving pictures,and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for recording and/orreproducing state information associated with audio for moving pictures,and a recording medium for storing audio state information.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] Development in the field of digital compression techniques andincreases in the capacity of recording mediums are now enabling movingpicture information to be compressed into digital data and recorded.Compression techniques include a variety of standards. In the case ofvideo, the MPEG (moving picture experts group)-2 video (ISO/IEC 13818-2)MP@ML (Main Profile at Main Level) standard, which has the same imagequality as current analog televisions, is now the most widely used. Theuse of the MPEG-2 MP@HL (Main Profile at High Level) standard, which iscapable of achieving the image quality of high definition television(HDTV) is rapidly increasing. In the case of audio, AC (Audio Coding)-3is generally used around North America, and MPEG1/2 Audio(ISO/IEC13818-3) standard is being used in Europe. The amount of audiodata is less than that of video data, so that the linear pulse codedmodulation (LPCM) standard, in which there is no compression can also beused for audio.

[0006] In this way, audio data and video data are signal-processed inaccordance with respective standards, and then combined into data of abitstream. At this time, the MPEG-2 System (ISO/IEC 13818-1) standard isgenerally used. That is, each of the audio data and the video data ispacketed, and discrimination information for discriminating betweenaudio and video, buffer control information, and timing information forsynchronizing an audio signal with a video signal, are added to eachpacket. Timing information related to a clock signal to be used by adecoder is also added to each packet, resulting in pack data. Here, thedigital versatile disc (DVD) video standard prescribes that the size ofone pack of data is 2048 bytes.

[0007] A general moving picture recording apparatus includes severalimportant functions among which there is an after recording function oflater replacing and overwriting only an audio portion among movingpicture data which has already been recorded on a recording medium.Existing analog recording mediums have tracks on which video signals formoving pictures and audio signals are separately recorded, such that theafter recording function is easily performed. Also, an analog signal isnot recorded in a particular recording unit, so that operations requiredfor the after recording are completed by overwriting a desired portion.

[0008] Here, audio which has been originally recorded is called originalaudio, and audio to be replaced and recorded later is called secondaryaudio. In order to preserve original audio upon recording of secondaryaudio, two audio tracks to separately record the original audio and thesecondary audio must be prepared. Accordingly, original audio andsecondary audio are discriminated from each another by the positions oftheir tracks.

[0009] While the two tracks are simultaneously played back, thesecondary audio signal is only output when an audio signal exists in thetrack for secondary audio, and otherwise, an audio signal existing inthe track for original audio is output. In this way, secondary audiowhich has been partially recorded on a track can be reproduced. Whenreproduction of only the original audio is desired, an audio signal onthe original audio track can be reproduced independently of theexistence or non-existence of audio signals on the secondary audiotrack.

[0010] However, in the digital recording medium, audio/video (A/V)signals have been mixed and recorded on a recording area in apredetermined recording unit without classification, such that recordingand reproducing of secondary audio using the overwriting method used bythe analog recording medium is not possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] To solve the above problem, an objective of the present inventionis to provide a recording medium for dividing moving picture data into aplurality of basic units, generating basic unit information, which isrequired for reproduction/edition and included in each basic unit, andstoring audio state information in the basic unit information.

[0012] Another objective of the present invention is to provide arecording apparatus for dividing moving picture data into a plurality ofbasic units, generating basic unit information related to each basicunit, and storing audio state information in the basic unit information.

[0013] Still another objective of the present invention is to provide areproducing apparatus for selectively reproducing original audio orsecondary audio on the basis of audio state information.

[0014] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide arecording method of dividing moving picture data into a plurality ofbasic units, generating basic unit information related to each basicunit, and storing audio state information in the basic unit information.

[0015] Still yet another objective of the present invention is toprovide a reproducing method of selectively reproducing original audioor secondary audio on the basis of audio state information.

[0016] To achieve the first objective of the invention, there isprovided a recording medium on which a moving image is divided into aplurality of basic units and recorded, and basic unit informationrelated to the moving image is recorded in each basic unit, wherein thebasic unit is comprised of at least one among video data, audio data andgraphic data, and the audio data is comprised of first audio or firstaudio and second audio; the basic unit information includes the stateinformation on the first audio and the state information on the secondaudio; the state information on the first audio represents an originalaudio state in which the first audio is original audio, or a secondaryaudio state in which the first audio is secondary audio recorded overpart or all of the original audio; and the state information on thesecond audio represents a state in which the second audio is originalaudio, a state in which the second audio is secondary audio recordedover part or all of the original audio, a state in which the secondaudio is dummy audio which is exactly the same as the first audio, or astate in which the second audio is secondary audio recorded over part orall of the dummy audio.

[0017] To achieve the second objective of the invention, there isprovided a moving picture recording apparatus by which a moving image isdivided into a plurality of basic units and recorded, basic unitinformation related to the moving image is recorded on each basic unit,and the basic unit is comprised of at least one among video data, audiodata and graphic data. The apparatus includes a recording controller bywhich first audio or first audio and second audio is recorded as theaudio data, the state information on the first audio and the stateinformation on the second audio are recorded as the basic unitinformation, the state information on the first audio represents anoriginal audio state in which the first audio is original audio, andwhen the second audio exists, the state information on the second audiorepresents a state in which the second audio is original audio, or astate in which the second audio is dummy audio which is exactly the sameas the first audio.

[0018] To achieve the third objective of the invention, there isprovided an apparatus for playing back a recording medium on which amoving picture is divided into a plurality of basic units and recorded,basic unit information related to the moving image is recorded in eachbasic unit, each of the basic units is comprised of at least one amongvideo data, audio data and graphic data among which the audio data iscomprised of first audio, or first audio and second audio, the basicunit information includes the state information on the first audio andthe state information of the second audio, the state information on thefirst audio represents a state in which the first audio is originalaudio, or a state in which the first audio is secondary audio recordedover part or all of the original audio, and the state information on thesecond audio represents a state in which the second audio is originalaudio, a state in which the second audio is secondary audio recordedover part or all of the original audio, a state in which the secondaudio is dummy audio which is exactly the same as the first audio, or astate in which the second audio is secondary audio recorded over part orall of the dummy audio. The apparatus includes a reproducing controllerfor reproducing the original audio and secondary audio according to thefirst audio state information/second audio state information.

[0019] To achieve the fourth objective of the invention, there isprovided a moving picture recording method by which a moving image isdivided into a plurality of basic units and recorded, basic unitinformation related to the moving image is recorded on each basic unit,and the basic unit is comprised of at least one among video data, audiodata and graphic data. The method includes recording first audio orfirst audio and second audio as the audio data, and recording the stateinformation on the first audio and the state information on the secondaudio as the basic unit information, wherein the state information onthe first audio represents an original audio state in which the firstaudio is original audio, and when the second audio exists, the stateinformation on the second audio represents a state in which the secondaudio is original audio, or a state in which the second audio is dummyaudio which is exactly the same as the first audio.

[0020] To achieve the fifth objective of the invention, there isprovided a method of playing back a recording medium on which a movingpicture is divided into a plurality of basic units and recorded, basicunit information related to the moving image is recorded in each basicunit, each of the basic units is comprised of at least one among videodata, audio data and graphic data among which the audio data iscomprised of first audio, or first audio and second audio, the basicunit information includes the state information on the first audio andthe state information of the second audio, the state information on thefirst audio represents a state in which the first audio is originalaudio, or a state in which the first audio is secondary audio recordedover part or all of the original audio, and the state information on thesecond audio represents a state in which the second audio is originalaudio, a state in which the second audio is secondary audio recordedover part or all of the original audio, a state in which the secondaudio is dummy audio which is exactly the same as the first audio, or astate in which the second audio is secondary audio recorded over part orall of the dummy audio. The method includes analyzing the first audiostate information/second audio state information, and reproducing theoriginal audio/secondary audio according to the analyzed audio stateinformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The above objectives and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

[0022]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical recording/reproducingapparatus to which the present invention is applied;

[0023]FIG. 2 shows the hierarchical structure of moving picture data tofacilitate understanding of the present invention;

[0024]FIGS. 3A and 3B show the video object (VOB) shown in FIG. 2;

[0025]FIGS. 4A through 4D show the pack shown in FIG. 3;

[0026]FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of audio stateinformation within video object information (VOBI) according to thepresent invention;

[0027]FIGS. 6A-6B show a state variation from before secondary audio isre-recorded, to after the secondary audio has been re-recorded, whenonly first audio exists; and

[0028]FIGS. 7A-7D show a state variation from before secondary audio isre-recorded, to after the secondary audio has been re-recorded, whenfirst and second audio exist.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0029] A digital versatile disk (DVD) video recorder and player as shownin FIG. 1 are adopted as a preferred embodiment of a recording apparatusand a reproduction apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 1, blocks 102 through 114 are for reproduction,and blocks 116 and 126 are for recording. A reproduction apparatus mayinclude only blocks for reproduction, and a recording apparatus mayinclude only blocks for recording. An optical pickup unit 100, a keyinput unit & display 128 for interfacing with a user and displaying auser interface, and a system controller 130 for controlling theoperation of each block, are included in both the recording apparatusand the reproduction apparatus.

[0031] Typical recorders are capable of recording and reproduction, sothat all blocks can be installed in one apparatus. Thus, in the presentinvention, when a recording apparatus operates for reproduction, it canbe a reproduction apparatus.

[0032] In the operations of blocks in a general reproduction apparatus,the optical pickup unit 100 includes an optical system for reading asignal from a recording medium and converting the read signal into anelectrical signal, and a mechanism for moving the optical system so thatthe optical system reads and writes data at desired positions on therecording medium. This mechanism is controlled by a digital servo unit102. A radio frequency (RF) amplifier 104 amplifies the electricalsignal read from the recording medium by the optical system and providesthe resultant signal to a data decoder 106. Also, the RF amplifier 104provides a servo signal for compensating for the position of the opticalsystem, to the digital servo unit 102.

[0033] The data decoder 106 converts the amplified electrical signaloutput by the RF amplifier 104, into a digital signal expressed by “0”and “1” levels on the basis of an appropriate signal level (which iscalled a binarization level). The digital signal has been modulated inaccordance with the recording characteristics of a typical recordingmedium. Also, the data decoder 106 demodulates the digital signal inaccordance with a demodulation scheme corresponding to a modulationscheme used upon modulation. The demodulated digital signal is an errorcorrection code (ECC) signal to which a parity is attached to correcterrors caused by scratches, defects, or the like on a recording medium.The data decoder 106 corrects a generated error by error correctiondecoding the demodulated data, and provides error correction coded datato an audio/video (A/V) decoder 108.

[0034] Data output by the data decoder 106 has a form in which at leastone among video data, audio data and graphic data has been compressed.Audio data may not be compressed since it has a smaller amount ofinformation in relation to the amount of video data. Video data istypically compressed in accordance with the MPEG standard. Graphic datais compressed according to a lossless compression scheme in which thereis no information loss. The A/V decoder 108 decodes video, audio and/orgraphic data in accordance with the respective compressed schemes torestore the video, audio and/or graphic data. In particular, the graphicdata is mixed with the video data.

[0035] A memory 110 connected to the A/V decoder 108 temporarily storesthe data received by the A/V decoder 108, before the data is decoded, ortemporarily stores restored data before the data is output. Next, dataprovided from the A/V decoder 108 is converted to be output to outputdevices. That is, a video digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 112 convertsa restored digital video data into an analog video signal, and outputsthe analog video signal to a television or a monitor. An audio DAC 114converts a restored digital audio data into an analog audio signal, andoutputs the analog audio signal to a speaker or an audio amplifier. TheTV, monitor, speaker, and audio amplifier, which are final outputdevices, are not shown in FIG. 1.

[0036] In the operation of blocks in a recording apparatus, an audiosignal or a video signal is received from an external input device.Here, the external input device can be a TV, a camera or the like, andis not shown in FIG. 1.

[0037] Received video and audio signals are of an analog or digitalform, and appropriately pre-processed and converted into digital data.In FIG. 1, analog video and audio signals are received. To be morespecific, a video preprocessor 116 performs a function such as afiltering operation for minimizing secondary effects which are producedwhile the analog video signal is converted into digital data, and thenconverts the analog video signal into a digital video signal. An audiopreprocessor 118 performs a function such as a filtering operation forminimizing secondary effects which are produced while the analog audiosignal is converted into digital data, and then converts the analogaudio signal into a digital audio signal. An A/V encoder 120 compressesthe digital audio and/or video signals to reduce the amount of audiodata and/or video data, and appropriately processes the compressed audioand/or video signals. That is, video is typically encoded using acompression scheme called MPEG video (ISO/IEC13818-2), and audio istypically encoded using a compression scheme such as AC-3 or MPEG audio(ISO/IEC13818-3). However, audio may not be compressed since it has asmaller amount of data in relation to the amount of video data. It iscommon that information based on the MPEG system (ISO/IEC13818-1)standard is added to the encoded video data and encoded audio data. Thisinformation is required for decoding each of the video data and audiodata, and can be information on buffer occupancy control upon decoding,and timing information required for synchronizing the audio signal withthe video signal.

[0038] Graphic data is typically received by an exclusive inputapparatus. Alternatively, graphic data is produced by the systemcontroller 130 which receives a user input, compressed by an exclusivecompressor, and mixed with the A/V data. In the A/V encoder 120, thecompression and mixing of graphic data may be performed. However, thegraphic data part is not shown in FIG. 1.

[0039] A memory 122 connected to the A/V encoder 120 temporarily storesdata received by the A/V encoder, before the received data is encoded,or temporarily stores encoded data before the encoded data is output. Adata encoder 124 error correction encodes the encoded data output by theA/V encoder 120, and modulates the error correction encoded data inaccordance with the recoding characteristics of a recording medium. Alaser diode (LD) power controller 126 emits an optical signalcorresponding to data output from the data encoder 124 to the recordingmedium using a laser beam, thereby achieving recording.

[0040] The key input unit & display 128, which is for interfacing a userto the recording or reproduction apparatus, receives a command such asreproduction start, reproduction stop, recording start or recording stopfrom a user, transmits the received command to the system controller130, and displays the selection of the user on a menu, an on screendisplay (OSD), or an on screen graphic (OSG). The system controller 130transmits functions required according to each operational command setby a user, to all blocks, and controls the blocks, thereby performingthe operation set by a user.

[0041] The A/V decoder 108 and the A/V encoder 120 separately installedin FIG. 1 may be integrated in a single block which can perform encodingand decoding. Also, the memory 110 for decoding and the memory 120 forencoding may be integrated in a single memory.

[0042] Accordingly, when the optical recording/reproduction apparatusshown in FIG. 1 records a moving image on a recording medium, it dividesthe moving image information into a plurality of basic units and recordsthe plurality of basic units on the recording medium using the recordingblocks 116 through 126 and 100. The system controller 130 producesinformation required for reproduction/edition for each basic unit, andmanages this as basic unit information. The basic unit informationproduced by the system controller 130 is recorded on the recordingmedium via the data encoder 124, the LD power controller 126, and theoptical pickup unit 100.

[0043] Here, the basic unit includes at least one among video data,audio data, and graphic data. In particular, audio data includes onlyone type of audio, or includes first audio and second audio. When a userrecords secondary audio, the secondary audio is recorded over part orall of the first audio or second audio, and the modified state of thefirst audio or second audio is managed as the state information of thefirst audio or second audio within the basic unit information. In thecase of DVD video recording as a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the basic unit is referred to as video object (VOB) and thebasic unit information is referred to as video object information(VOBI).

[0044] Upon reproduction, the system controller 130 checks the first orsecond audio state information stored in the basic unit informationwhich is reproduced via the optical pickup unit 100, the RF AMP 104, andthe data decoder 106, and controls the key input unit & display 128 todisplay the audio state information in the basic unit information on amenu or the like so that the user recognizes the audio stateinformation. Therefore, according to the selection of a user, audio dataamong moving image data recorded in a plurality of basic units on therecording medium is reproduced by the blocks 100 through 114 forreproduction shown in FIG. 1. This will be described later withreference to FIGS. 5 through 7.

[0045] The hierarchical structure of moving image data will now bedescribed with reference to FIG. 2, to facilitate the understanding ofthe present invention.

[0046] When a user records moving image data, the moving image data isactually recorded on a recording medium using the blocks 116 through 126and 100 for recording shown in FIG. 1. In DVD video recording, eachrecorded data is divided into units of video objects (VOB). That is,moving image data recorded from when a user presses down on a recordingstart button until when the user presses down on a recording stopbutton, is one VOB.

[0047] A plurality of VOBs are recorded on a recording medium. Forexample, VOB#1, VOB#2 and VOB#3 are shown in FIG. 2. As described above,video data, audio data and graphic data are mixed and recorded in oneVOB. In the present invention, these VOBs are referred to as real timebitstream data, and each VOB is recorded in a single file in the case ofDVD video recording.

[0048] Upon reproduction, recorded VOBs are decoded and reproduced bythe blocks 100 through 114 for reproduction shown in FIG. 1. It is ofuse to separately record information required for VOB reproduction. Forexample, the width and length (resolution) of video data within acorresponding VOB, the encoding scheme of audio data, or the like, canbe separately recorded. Also, when a VOB has been encoded at a variablebit rate (VBR), the position of data within the VOB does not match witha reproduction time. Accordingly, separate recording of the position ofdata according to reproduction time is useful to accomplish a specialreproduction function such as time search. These data constitute VOBI.That is, VOBI (VOBI#1, VOBI#2 and VOBI#3 shown in FIG. 2) exists in eachVOB, and each VOBI includes information required to reproduce or edit acorresponding VOB.

[0049] A program can be a unit of moving image information for a user.That is, the user understands that a plurality of programs are recordedon a recording medium. In the DVD video recording, the relationshipbetween a program and a VOB is determined as follows. That is, a programincludes a plurality of cells, and a cell denotes part or all of a VOB.Consequently, a program includes some or all of a plurality of VOBs.

[0050] In general, a program includes a cell, and a cell corresponds toan entire VOB. Here, when a program undergoes an editing process inresponse to a command from a user, such as, partial deletion of aprogram, merging of programs, or production of a program in the orderdesired by a user, the shape of the program becomes slightly morecomplicated than the aforementioned general shape.

[0051] Information related to the plurality of programs constitutesprogram chain information (PGCI). The VOBI and the PGCI constitutenavigation data. That is, a real time bitstream which is moving imagedata, and navigation data which is information required to reproduce themoving image data, are recorded together on a recording medium.

[0052] As described above, the program is finally recognized by a user.Here, the program is transmitted to the user using a menu or the like. Amenu corresponding to each program (e.g., Program #1, Program #2 andProgram #3 shown in FIG. 2) is displayed. When a user selects a program#n, cells pertaining to this selected program are searched for, andcorresponding portions of VOBs indicated by these cells are reproduced.Information which is required for this reproduction can be obtained fromcorresponding VOBIs.

[0053]FIGS. 3A and 3B show the internal configuration of a VOB shown inFIG. 2. Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a VOB includes a plurality ofvideo object units (VOBUs), and each VOBU includes a plurality of videopacks, audio packs and/or graphic packs. The VOBU relates to a method ofencoding video data. The MPEG standard, which is used as a videoencoding method, uses the correlation between frames of moving picturedata.

[0054] In moving picture data constituted of tens of frames per second,each frame generally includes the same information. For example, in thecase of moving pictures in which a human being moves, the background ofeach picture remains the same, and there is only a small amount ofmovement in each frame due to the human being. Hence, the foremost frameis entirely recorded, and in the next frames, only portions that aredifferent from the previous frame are recorded. In this way, the amountof data to be recorded is sharply reduced.

[0055] The MPEG encoding method conceptually uses such a recordingmethod. In this case, there is a disadvantage in that a middle framerequires a previous frame to be restored. Therefore, even when it isdesired for a middle frame to be reproduced, previous frames thereofmust be reproduced starting from the foremost frame. MPEG solves thisdisadvantage using a structure of a group of picture (GOP). That is, apredetermined number of frames constitute a group, and all informationon the frames is recorded on the head frame in this group. In this case,in order to reproduce a middle frame, the head frame within a GOP towhich the middle frame pertains can start being reproduced. A typicalGOP is constituted of 12 to 15 frames. A VOBU includes a plurality ofGOPs.

[0056] A VOBU includes a plurality of video packs, audio packs and/orgraphic data packs in a form based on the MPEG system standard. Eachpack includes information on its type.

[0057]FIG. 3A refers to the case in which a type of audio stream existsfor one video stream formed as a pack, and FIG. 3B refers to the case inwhich two types of audio streams exist for one video stream formed as apack. When there are a plurality of types of audio streams as describedabove, a user can select and reproduce a desired type of audio stream.

[0058] The pack structure will now be described in more detail withreference to FIGS. 4A through 4D. A pack typically includes a packet. Inthe case of DVD video recording, at most two packets are required forone pack. When two packets are required, one packet among two must be apadding packet for simply occupying a place on data.

[0059] Each packet is divided into a packet header and a payload part.In a packet header, information representing the type of a correspondingpacket is recorded as a parameter which is referred to as a streamidentifier (stream_id). In the case of video, the stream identifier(stream_id) is a binary number “1110 0000b” as shown in FIG. 4A. In thecase of audio, only MPEG audio can be represented as a stream identifier(stream_id) as shown in FIG. 4B, and the stream identifier (stream_id)is “1100 000xb”. Here, x, which is 0 or 1, can provide two types ofaudio.

[0060] In the case when audio is AC-3 audio or LPCM audio, a procedureis further required to identify the AC-3 audio or LPCM audio. That is,the AC-3 audio and LPCM audio have the same stream identifier(stream_id) of “1011 1101b”. Header information corresponding to theAC-3 audio or LPCM audio is recorded in the payload part, and real audiodata follows the recorded header information. The header informationincludes a parameter which is referred to as a substream identifiersubstream_id. In the case of AC-3, “1000 000xb” is stored in thesubstream identifier parameter (substream_id) as shown in FIG. 4D. Inthe case of LPCM, “1010 000xb” is stored in the substream identifierparameter (substream_id) as shown in FIG. 4C. Here, x can be “0” or “1”,thus capable of providing two types of audio. In the present invention,when x is “0”, this case refers to first audio (audio 1), and when x is“1”, this case refers to second audio (audio 2).

[0061] The first audio is used for recording fundamental original audio.Later, a user can record secondary audio on part of the first audio. Inthis case, original audio which is overwritten by the secondary audio,is deleted.

[0062] The second audio can be used for recording original audio or forrecording secondary audio. When the second audio is used for recordingoriginal audio, there are two original audio together with the firstaudio. However, original audio is not recorded on only the second audiowithout the first audio. When the second audio is original audio, a userrecognizes the second audio as original audio from the beginning.Therefore, the first audio and the second audio have the same priority.When secondary audio is recorded, either the first audio or the secondaudio is selected, and then the secondary audio is recorded on theselected audio.

[0063] When second audio is recorded as secondary audio from thebeginning, the following restrictions must be observed. Upon initialrecording, second audio having exactly the same content as the contentof first audio, must be recorded. That is, the second audio is the sameas the first audio in terms of content, so that a user cannot recognizethe second audio. Such a state is called a dummy audio state.

[0064] Accordingly, when a user desires to record secondary audio later,the secondary audio is recorded on a corresponding portion of the secondaudio in a dummy state. When the second audio is overwritten by thesecondary audio in this way, it is recognized by the user for the firsttime, and the user selects and reproduces one audio among the firstaudio and the second audio. Since the second audio is the same as thefirst audio except for the portion on which the secondary audio isrecorded, the same content is reproduced even if the selection of audiois changed. The reason why second audio having the same content as thecontent of first audio is recorded is that in the case of a digitalrecording medium, it is difficult to extract and reproduce portions onwhich secondary audio has been recorded. That is, if the second audio isreserved and only part thereof is occupied by secondary audio, audio isnot reproduced from portions on which secondary audio has not beenrecorded, when the second audio is selected, which causes a user to beconfused.

[0065] Alternatively, first audio can be reproduced at empty portions ofthe second audio, and second audio can be reproduced at portions of thesecond audio on which secondary audio has been recorded. However, inthis case, a determination as to whether audio has been recorded on thesecond audio must be made, which makes it difficult to achieve thealternative method.

[0066] In the present invention, a user is informed of the states offirst audio and second audio before the states are recorded on andreproduced from a corresponding VOBI in a VOB, or used to perform anappropriate operation when a user has made audio change duringreproduction.

[0067]FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of first audio stateinformation and second audio state information within video objectinformation (VOBI) according to the present invention.

[0068] The first audio state information A0_STATUS represents a state(00 b) in which original audio has been recorded, or a state (01 b) inwhich part or all of the original audio is secondary audio.

[0069] The state 00 b represents that first audio is original audio.When second audio is not recorded, a user records secondary audio overpart or all of the original audio. At this time, the first audio isoverwritten by secondary audio, and the state information of the firstaudio is changed from “00 b” to “01 b”.

[0070] The second audio state information A1_STATUS can be a dummy state10 b in which the content of the second audio is completely the same asthat of the first audio, or a state 11 b in which part or all of thesecond audio has been overwritten by secondary audio, in addition to theabove-described two states. Thus, one state among a total of four statesis recorded as the second audio state information A1_STATUS.

[0071] Consequently, the first audio state information A0_STATUS and thesecond audio state information A1_STATUS are defined as follows.

[0072] A0_STATUS:

[0073]00 b . . . first audio is original audio.

[0074]01 b . . . first audio is secondary audio re-recorded over part orall of original audio.

[0075] A0_STATUS:

[0076]00 b . . . second audio is original audio.

[0077]01 b . . . second audio is secondary audio re-recorded over partor all of the original audio.

[0078]10 b . . . second audio is dummy audio whose content is exactlythe same as the content of the original audio.

[0079]11 b . . . second audio is secondary audio re-recorded over partor all of dummy audio.

[0080] In a method of using the first and second audio information, thecase in which the second audio is in a dummy audio state is the mostimportant. When state information representing that second audio isdummy audio is recorded, it is considered to a user as the case in whichsecond audio is not recorded. Thus, this situation can be displayed on amenu or the like. At this time, even when a user performs an audioconversion function, the first audio can continue being reproduced. Thatis, in the state “10 b” representing dummy audio, reproduction of thefirst audio can be set as default.

[0081] When the second audio is in one of three states 00 b, 01 b and 11b other than the dummy audio state 10 b, the three states of the secondaudio indicate that audio data having a different content to the contentof the first audio has been recorded. Thus, a user is informed of thisstate of the second audio, and thus can perform audio change. Inparticular, when the second audio state information A1_STATUS is thestate 11 b in which the second audio is secondary audio re-recorded onpart or all of the dummy audio, reproduction of the second audio can beset as default.

[0082] Accordingly, in the present invention, a user is informed ofwhether the first audio or second audio is original audio, or secondaryaudio re-recorded on part or all of the first audio or second audio, bymeans of a menu or the like, so that the user can recognize the state ofaudio of a corresponding VOB.

[0083]FIG. 6 shows a state variation from before secondary audio isre-recorded, to after the secondary audio is re-recorded, when onlyfirst audio exists. That is, the case (A0_STATUS=00 b) of first audio inoriginal audio state, and the case (A0_STATUS=01 b) in which only somesections a5 through a8 of the original audio are overwritten bysecondary audio b1 through b4 through overwriting/edition, are shown inFIG. 6. In this case, the first audio state information A0_STATUS isrenewed from “00 b” to “01 b”, and the variation of the audio state canbe displayed through a menu or the like on the key input unit & display128 shown in FIG. 1 so that a user is informed of the variation of theaudio state.

[0084]FIG. 7 shows a state variation from before secondary audio isre-recorded, to after the secondary audio has been re-recorded, whenfirst and second audio exist. When the first audio is original audio(i.e., A0_STATUS=00 b) and the second audio is in the dummy state inwhich the second audio is the same as the first audio (i.e.,A1_STATUS=10 b), reproduction of only first audio is set as default, andthe direction of reproduction is indicated by a thick solid arrow.

[0085] Second audio in a dummy audio state having some sections a5through a8 overwritten by secondary audio b1 through b4 is shown in FIG.7. The second audio state information A1_STATUS is renewed from “10 b”to “11 b”. Here, the first audio remains in the original audio state(i.e., A0_STATUS=00B).

[0086] Part of the second audio in a dummy state is overwritten bysecondary audio, and, then, audio change by a user through a menu or thelike, is performed. At this time, the content of audio reproduced ischanged, which is represented by a thick solid arrow indicating thedirection of reproduction. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, first audio a1through a4 are reproduced, second audio b1 through b3 in the secondaudio are then reproduced due to the audio change by the user, and thefirst audio is reproduced again from a8 due to the audio change by theuser.

[0087] As described above, in the present invention, audio stateinformation related to a moving image, obtained throughrecording/overwriting/editing, is stored in recording unit informationVOBI for a corresponding recording unit VOB, and reported to a userbefore the moving image is reproduced, so that the user can recognizethe audio state. Also, during reproduction, the user can appropriatelycope with audio change.

What is claimed is:
 1. A moving picture recording and/or editingapparatus for recording secondary audio on a recording medium on which amoving image is divided into a plurality of basic units, and basic unitinformation related to the moving image is recorded in each basic unit,the basic unit comprising at least one of video data and audio data, andthe audio data comprises first audio, or first audio and second audio,and first state information and, if the second audio exists, the secondstate information, indicative of states of the first audio and thesecond audio, respectively, are recorded in the basic unit information,the recording and/or editing apparatus comprising: a recordingcontroller to record and/or edit secondary audio over part or all of thefirst audio when only the first audio exists, and record the stateinformation representing that the first audio is secondary audiorecorded over part or all of original audio in the basic unitinformation.
 2. The recording and/or editing apparatus of claim 1,wherein the recording controller records and/or edits secondary audioover part or all of the second audio which is original or dummy audiowhen the second audio exists, and records the state informationrepresenting that the second audio is the secondary audio recorded overpart or all of the original audio, or the state information representingthat the second audio is the secondary audio recorded over part or allof the dummy audio in the basic unit information.
 3. The recordingand/or editing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a reproducingcontroller to reproduce the original audio and the secondary audioaccording to the first state information and, if the second audioexists, the second state information.